Digital Diferential Analizer Dotted Line

Question

Im using de DDA (Digital Diferential Analizer) to make a line, and thought I know maybe using de DrawLine the way I am, just run along with it. Im trying to make different t

Answer 1

1. you need draw line function (in your case g.drawline(x0,y0,x1,y1); ).
2. dont care about color (you can play with it later)
3. you need definition of your pattern (size of lines and spaces in pixels)
4. for example int pattern[]={10,-5,0} (10px line, then 5px space, 0 means repeat from beginning) ... -values are spaces + values are lines
5. you need 'global' state (actual index in pattern and actual pixel length drawed) also you can have global pattern pointer or encapsulate all in class/struct.

ok so the basic idea is to segmentate any line to selected pattern for example like this:

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------
// pattern draw state
int    _pattern_ix=0; // actual index in pattern need to reset it to zero before any pattern change
double _pattern_l=0;  // already drawed or skipped pixels from actual pattern[_pattern_ix]
// predefined patterns
int    _pattern_dash_dash[]={ 10,-10,        0 };
int    _pattern_dash_dot[] ={ 10,- 5,  1,- 5,0 };
int    _pattern_dot_dot[]  ={  1,- 5,        0 };
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------
// draw line function
void drawline(int x0,int y0,int x1,int y1)
    {
    // this is just borland GDI access to draw line function
    Form1->Canvas->MoveTo(x0,y0);
    Form1->Canvas->LineTo(x1,y1);
    }
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------
void pattern_line(int x0,int y0,int x1,int y1,int *pattern)
    {
    int p;
    double x,y,xx,yy,dx,dy,dl,t,dt;
    dx=x1-x0;
    dy=y1-y0;
    dl=sqrt((dx*dx)+(dy*dy));
    dx/=dl; dy/=dl;
    for (t=0.0,dt=0.0;dl>=0.5;)
        {
        p=pattern[_pattern_ix];
        if (p<0) // skip
            {
            dt=-p-_pattern_l;                      // t=space to skip [px]
            if (dt>dl) { _pattern_l+=dl; return; } // space is bigger then rest of line
            dl-=dt; t+=dt; _pattern_l=0.0;         // update line params and continue to next pattern entry
            }
        else     // draw
            {
            dt=+p-_pattern_l;                     // t=space to draw [px]
            x=x0+double(t*dx);                    // actual point pos
            y=y0+double(t*dy);                    // space is bigger then rest of line
            if (dt>dl) { _pattern_l+=dl; drawline(x,y,x1,y1); return; }
            dl-=dt; t+=dt; _pattern_l=0.0;        // update line params
            xx=x0+double(t*dx);                   // actual point pos
            yy=y0+double(t*dy);
            drawline(x,y,xx,yy);                  // draw line and continue to next pattern entry
            }
        _pattern_ix++;
        if (!pattern[_pattern_ix]) _pattern_ix=0;
        }
    }
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------
void main()
    {
    // borland GDI clear screen and color settings
    Canvas->Brush->Color=clBlack;
    Canvas->Pen->Color=clWhite;
    Canvas->FillRect(ClientRect);
    // draw dash-dot-ed rectangle
    int x0,x1,y0,y1;
    x0=30; x1=200;
    y0=30; y1=100;
    pattern_line(x0,y0,x1,y0,_pattern_dash_dot);
    pattern_line(x1,y0,x1,y1,_pattern_dash_dot);
    pattern_line(x1,y1,x0,y1,_pattern_dash_dot);
    pattern_line(x0,y1,x0,y0,_pattern_dash_dot);
    }
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------

and do not forget to reset pattern ix,l to zero before any pattern style change. Code is not optimized so its pretty slow but simple enough to understand i hope.